Aluminum structural member component weight as a function of wing loading

Aluminum wing, empennage and fuselage structural weights are functions of wing loading in commercial and general aviation applications. Component weight data for 61 airplanes were used to develop three relationships: wing weight/reference area as a function of wing loading, empennage weight/reference area as a function of wing loading, and fuselage weight/surface area as a function of wing loading. These relationships can be used for quick estimation of wing, empennage and fuselage weights or checking the reasonability of estimates obtained through other methods. It should be possible to develop similar relationships for military aircraft, though the addition of thrust loading to the functionality may be needed to account for variances in the structural design load factor.